June 26, 2000 -- the Bear Creek Cemetery Foundation was formed for the purpose of caring for the cemetery. The foundation meets once a year and would like to improve cleaning efforts, erect a new fence, gates and a sign. Another goal of the foundation is to gradually repair the many broken markers.
Historical Marker
The Foundation applied to the Texas Historical Commission to designate Bear Creek Cemetery as a Historic Texas Cemetery, and this designation was granted on February 28, 2005.
Dec 30, 2005 -- we received the official notice that our historical marker has been approved! We have sent the money, and expect the marker soon.
August 2006 -- the Texas Historical Commission approved the final wording for the marker, and it has been sent for casting.
May 2007 -- The marker arrived in May 2007, and we installed it later in the summer.
August 2007 -- Press Release about our Historic Marker and scheduled Dedication Ceremony.
October 20, 2007 -- we held a Dedication Ceremony. The ceremony was very well-attended. Over 80 people came, from as far away as California, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Lubbock, and Houston, as well as all parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and surrounding counties. Slide Show from the dedication.
Detailed Map of Burials
Summer 2009 -- Bob and Becky Sander-Cederlof, with the help of Rob Schilperoort and Becky Yeager, created a detailed map showing the location of all of the existing cemetery markers including the footstones. A 24”x36” printed copy of the map is available for purchase. The map includes a name index and a grave location index.Click here to see a reduced-size picture of the map.
Road Signs
Fall 2009 -- Our President, JoAnn Brockman Werner, contacted the Texas Department of Transportation to request that signs be placed on FM 6 showing the direction to the Bear Creek Cemetery. This cemetery has been difficult to find. In November two signs were placed at the intersection of FM 6 and CR 544, one facing east and one facing west, both pointing the way to the cemetery on CR 544.
Fence on East
Summer 2010 -- we applied for and received a grant from the Collin County Historical Commission for the purpose of erecting a fence along the east side of the cemetery. With additional donations we were able to put up a very nice steel fence, about 400 feet long. This is parallel to the road, and has two gates. See pictures here.Marker Repair Workshop
April 2011 -- the Collin County Historical Commission chose Bear Creek Cemetery as one of two places to hold a day-long workshop on Gravestone Restoration, led by Jonathan Appell. This was a hands-on workshop, and Jon not only told us how, he demonstrated cleaning, levelling, and repairing three badly damaged markers.We are very pleased with the results! See pictures here. And a PDF article with pictures here, prepared by Candace Fountoulakis. Candace is very involved in the care of Young Cemetery, also in Collin County.
Fence on South and Marker Repair
August 2011 -- Bear Creek Cemetery Foundation was awarded two grants from the Collin County Historical Commission: one for extending the fence along the front (east side), and also the full length of the south side; and the other for leveling and repairing grave markers.March 2012 -- The work for those two projects is now completed. We now have a beautiful iron fence along the full length of the south and east sides of the cemetery. We were able to level and repair 23 grave markers.
April 15, 2012 -- we hosted a reception at the cemetery on Sunday, April 15, 2012, to celebrate the work on extending the fence and repairing the markers. Read or download the full description as a PDF file.
Marker Repair and Leveling
August 2012 -- Bear Creek Cemetery Foundation was awarded another grant from the Collin County Historical Commission for leveling and repairing additional grave markers.
March 2013 -- The work for the project is now completed. We were able to level and repair 19 grave markers.
April 27, 2013 -- We hosted a reception at the cemetery on Saturday, April 27, 2013, to celebrate the work repairing the markers.
August 2013 -- Bear Creek Cemetery Foundation was awarded another grant from the Collin County Historical Commission to partially pay for leveling and repairing additional grave markers.
March 2014 -- The work for the project is now completed. We were able to level and repair 25 grave markers, and partially repair five more.
April 6, 2014 -- We hosted a reception at the cemetery on Sunday, April 6, 2014, to celebrate the work repairing the markers. Unfortunately there was a heavy rain that day, so attendance was light.
August 2014 -- Bear Creek Cemetery Foundation was awarded another grant from the Collin County Historical Commission to partially pay for leveling and repairing additional grave markers.
March 2015 -- The work for the project is now completed. We were able to level and repair 35 grave markers, and partially repair one more.
April 19, 2015 -- We hosted a reception at the cemetery on Sunday, April 19, 2015, from 2pm to 4pm, to celebrate the work repairing the markers.
Dead Tree Removal
August 2016 -- Bear Creek Cemetery Foundation was awarded a grant from the Collin County Historical Commission to remove a number of large dead trees endangering workers, vistors, and newly-repaired grave markers.January 2017 -- The work for the project is now completed.